retail REVISED

In an age of Craigslist and eBay, where selling secondhand goods online is a first-rate multibillion-dollar business, the moms and pops in little shops may be down, but they're certainly not out.

Local shops that sell other folks' stuff for them have stuck out not only the onslaught of big-name websites, but they've managed to stick out the recession.

Some local shops are thriving, while others are barely scratching by.

But there's always a bargain and that one-in-a-million find waiting out there somewhere.

They're called things like consignment shops or trade stores, where they take the traditional retail formula and make it more of a community endeavor.

What these two particular types of places have in common is that the inventory doesn't belong to the stores' owners. It belongs to local people who have a variety of things on their hands they'd like to sell but don't have the means of doing so.

Several shops Odessa follow this basic premise and allow folks to exchange used goods without the signage, time consumption, heat or overall hassle of throwing a garage sale every weekend.

In Odessa, they come in the form of places like Reflections, Maria's Consignment & Antiques (consignment shops) or the nearby The Briar Patch & Beyond (trade store).

But what is the difference between consignment and trade shops?

Consignment stores offer people a place to peddle their wares - whether it be that old sofa in the garage or that shiny belt buckle in the closet that just doesn't ever match or that hotly contested piece of folk art hanging in Grandpa's study - in exchange for a percentage of the profit, usually a 50/50 or a 60/40 ratio.

The other type of outside seller is the trade-show format, which sells a certain amount of space - usually at a flat monthly rate - and allows the inventory's owners to set up a their own miniature display and take home all of the profits.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE
"It's helps the cost for everyone. It helps keep costs down," Briar Patch owner Diana Hamilton said, gesturing toward a display of old fashioned Coca-Cola collectibles offered by one of her vendors. "Whereas, if she had a shop for herself, she not be able to do it."

"If you have a lot of vendors working together, it just keeps the cost down," she smiled. "Plus, it's fun."

Hamilton said she opened her shop two years ago intending to make it a consignment store, only to find herself struggling to make ends meet, so she switched gears somewhat went the trade-show-format route.

Today, with a full list of 34 vendors taking up almost every square foot of her vastly expanded shop, the switch appears to have been wise.

Hamilton said she lets them name their own price for the item, then she'll raise the price by 40 percent to cover her own expenses.

In fact, Hamilton said, she opened a new boutique addition to the shop in January, and that's "now where the money is."

Hamilton believes her style of retail has several advantages over the traditional buy-price-sell format, chiefly variety and the risk management.

As the store's owner, she said she may be biased and her personal taste might keep her from stocking an otherwise hot item. From a business perspective, she said it makes more sense to let other people, all with their own quirky sense of taste and style, bring an eclectic dynamic to the shop.

From antique meat roasters to gumball machines to zebra-striped purses and jewelry fit for Generation Y, no two displays in her shop are alike.

"Now," she said, holding an old-fashioned if not homely bee smoker, "look at this. It's just going to take a certain person to looking for this antique before we sell it."

OWN-SELL-SPLIT
At Maria's Consignment & Antiques, the format is slightly different, but the eccentricity of the inventory is not.

From sneakers to cowboy boots to bronze Native American figurines to wedding dresses to candle holders, owner Maria Ruiz has a thing or two for customers with surgically precise taste and a tight budget.

But that's not to say the store's wares belong to her.

Instead, the store's bristling inventory of knick-knacks, apparel and downright zany Americana is marked with more than a price.

Above the numbers are two letters - the owner's initials - demarking whom Ruiz needs to pay at the end of the month when she sells that item. 

She said most of the stuff she sells comes from older folks who are moving to nursing homes and no longer can keep all of their household items, so it's not the type of stuff one could just find at their nearest mega-market or mall.

And as far as eBay goes, she said her place has the benefit of being real, physical and more than a series of dimensions and digital pictures on a television screen.

"People are going to only spend money on eBay," she said, "but then a lot of them are going to get disappointed. I've heard a lot of people who were disappointed."

But business is tough for Ruiz.

Despite reports and news stories claiming secondhand shops are thriving during the recession, she said times are tough.

"That's not true. (Business) has gone lower for me. I might even have to go find another job to make ends meet here," she sighed. "But I have faith."

A few blocks from Ruiz's store is Reflections, another consignment shop - at least part of it is, anyhow.

Heather Thomason, one of the shop's sale representatives, said the store's owners have a mixture of consignment and new merchandise.

Slightly toward the higher end, the store sells mostly furniture and high-end decorations made of crystal and handcrafted glass.

Maintaining quality, Thomason said, can be tricky sometimes when the shop has to turn people away when they come with an item and offer.

"But they do have to show pictures," she said, "because we don't want something that's falling apart."

At the end of the day, however, the bargains abound, not to mention the unique catches, Thomason said.

"You can get some things that are in super condition, but you can get them at a cheaper cost," she said. "It's just like buying a used car."

 IF YOU GO
>> Maria's Consignment & Antiques: 1101 N. Dixie Blvd. 
>> The Briar Patch & Beyond: 1215 E. Eighth St. 
>> Reflections: 1205 E. Eighth St.